20 Minutes with Marjolein Van’t Geloof
WORDS: AMY LAUREN JONES
IMAGES: HONOR ELLIOTT
Our Classics specialist Marjolein Van 't Geloof on Paris Roubaix Femmes, beach racing, and what keeps her in the sport. In the first of a series of live Instagram Q&As with the Le Col Wahoo team, Amy Lauren Jones spoke to our 25-year-old Dutch rider Marjolein Van 't Geloof (Majo for short) who had a stellar 2021 season including 13th place at the inaugural Paris Roubaix Femmes.
ALJ: Last season was something of a breakthrough one for you, especially towards the end with Paris Roubaix and some top-10s at The Women’s Tour. What was that like?
It was actually really, really cool. Because I've been with the team in the Corona season, and we didn't get to race – well, we did the first two races and then it was done. So everyone was really excited and I knew I was a bit better than the years before but also in the beginning of the season we felt that it was going really well.
I really focused on Roubaix and when it got postponed from the spring to the end of the season it actually fit it in better for me doing it together with the Women's Tour. So I made it really try to focus it all on the end of the season. And yeah, it worked out. It was really great, actually way better than I expected. The team believed in me and thought I could do it. So yeah, it was really, really cool. And also really motivating to get to the next season.
ALJ: Tell us a little bit more about Roubaix and how it felt to race the first ever women’s edition.
I was very excited about it because I'd been building this up in my head. And actually, it was already my favourite race before it became a women's race. So I knew the course very well and in the recon we did some race simulations on the cobbles and I got the KOM on Carrefour de l'Arbre. And I was like, ‘oh, this is very, very cool.’
Then just those little things gave it really something extra. And then the rainy conditions actually made it really spectacular to race in also. It was scary seeing motorbikes slide off the road and going through Carrefour and trying to stay on your bike on my own, with all the flags and people on the side. It was really, really cool. And especially, of course, the Velodrome in the end. In my head, I was like, ‘oh, yeah, if you're in a group, and it's a sprint…’ and all that stuff, and when I was there, I was just trying to finish. It was really cool. I think that's one of the great things of that race, finishing in the velodrome and being really done.
ALJ: Is bad weather something you thrive in?
Yeah, I really enjoy it. I think I'm not the best technical rider, but I like it when it's a bit more difficult. If that's with the wind or with rain or when other riders think that it's a bit more difficult. That's better for me, because it makes my job a bit easier. So yeah, that's something I like.
ALJ: Are you hoping to go even better in Roubaix this year?
I will try. And I think the whole team is behind me on that. And they're really trying for me to get a good result there. And we're going to build onto that. So yeah, that's just really exciting. But the thing about Roubaix is – more so than other races – that you can get real unlucky. So I try not to put all my hopes on it and [I will] really try to perform well, and yeah, just hope for the best.
ALJ: At the end of 2021 you signed for a further 2 years with the team. What have you been doing over winter to prepare for 2022?
The two year contract really gave me a lot of confidence, but also some room to improve some stuff. Because before this, last year, I was working two days a week as a physical therapist, and it was a bit harder to train and especially rest. I have some difficulties resting. So that was the time for me to reflect on what could I do different, and what do I want to change.
I talked to my coach about this and with the team and started doing some things different, like my strength training. I already did some strength training, but we focused more on explosivity and some stability on the on the hip and the core. Just some small improvements that I can really feel on the bike this winter so already it's just extra watts, I just to be able to push a bit better and focused. And that's really interesting to me. Also, as a physical therapist I find it really cool to see that.
Also, next to that, I've always been interested in nutrition, but on the standpoint that eat healthy, and it's okay. But when I was analysing this with one of our new sponsors, Sanas, they were saying ‘maybe you should really look at eating enough on the bike, also in training’ because I was doing that already in races, but not doing it in training – which just is really bad because you're doing all this training, and you're not really gaining anything from it. So for me, that was getting the carbs up and getting the proteins in before and after training. And not just like protein shake, but also through the day.
That was one of the things that I really felt I can improve on. Because I could do better weeks of training, recover better, stay in bed sometimes just to recover. Because before that I never had the time to take some time and do proper rest days because my rest days were work days. So yeah, I feel that really helped this winter.
ALJ: So have you put the physio work completely on hold?
I'm trying to stay a little bit into it, because you need to keep up with certain techniques and stuff. And I also enjoy having to deal with other people and not being in your own little bubble every day on the bike and just training all day. So yeah for me that’s really important to just have a mental day off and help other people. So yeah, I do that still, like one day a week, but more weeks that I go on training camp and have races. I just don't do it. So yeah, I'm really lucky that I'm able to do that.
ALJ: As well as focusing on strength training and nutrition, you also discovered another way to mix up her training over the winter – beach racing.
Normally, I only do track in the winter. But yes, this year Ribble got us gravel bikes made into beach bikes. And so that was really cool. Because in Holland, I don't know if other people noticed, but we do beach racing.You go on just a normal mountain bike, you take like really big mountain bike tires, but slick ones and you go on the beach, and we race. So we start with like 1000 people and go in big echelons, turn around at a little pole and go back. And it's like really hardcore racing. There's different types of races. And yeah, this weekend [6th February] I'm doing nationals so that will be fun but it's just something to get the heart rate up get a good training in but also just enjoy it which is really good.
ALJ: Aside from the beach racing championships, what are your goals for 2022?
For me, of course, one of the main goals is Roubaix again but we have some smaller races in between – maybe we go for smaller classic races like Nokere Koerse or De Panne, I really like those more flatter classics. But also in the summer, of course it would be amazing if we could do the Tour de France with our team. And to make that squad for me would be a big thing because when La Course was on the Champs Elysees I never got to do it. And it's one of my dreams to do the crit on the Champs Elysees and of course that's the first stage and yeah, those races are something that you dream, of course.
ALJ: The landscape of women’s cycling has been rapidly changing in recent years. What do you think of the way the Women’s WorldTour is heading and the development of women’s racing?
I think there's really good things going on and things that might be changing a little bit too fast. But I think it's also trying and learning on the way because women's cycling is not the same as men's cycling and we know that. I think things like, this week it was announced that E3 Harelbeke is also going to be a women's race, that's things that I'm really excited about because the big classics with the big heroics and the big races that we see the men do – that's also a thing we want to be able to do. Like when last year Roubaix came and this year the Tour de France, those things that are coming are really good for the sport, and everyone was really excited about them.
But we also have to think about the races that have been there in the past, because there have been special women's races. And these are races that we do when they also have history for us. But if these races all come in one calendar it will be more difficult for teams to seek out where we're going to go. And especially with the WorldTour now coming up bigger with more teams, it will be important to have a level between WorldTour and UCI. Because now what we're seeing is that everyone wants to be WorldTour because then you get to do the big races. But if you're not able to do it, or don't have the money... there's such a big difference between UCI teams like the top UCI teams or the lower level – and there are like 40 of them. So it's really hard to seek out those places and races.
I think it would be good like in the men's to have a Pro Conti level and Conti level. And also have levels into races really have WorldTour, 1.2, 1.1 like we have now but also make it available for those smaller teams and lower level teams to be able to do those races because now it's always fighting for those like few wildcards we have but also in the lower races it's sometimes it's difficult to get in. So yeah the things that are changing are really good. But we need to seek out how to level it and how to make it fair for everyone and not just for the top teams.
ALJ: What about development?
Especially for the younger riders. When I was 18 I was thrown straight into the pro peloton but at that level that was a few years ago. It was actually okay coming from juniors going into elite racing, you could actually finish a race or you could do pretty well in races. And you see that now and what you have to do as an 18 year old to do the big races and you're not supported that well, or you still need to grow, it can be really demoralising to just get DNFs all the time and try to find the joy in it. If you can do some low level races and really grow into it, you really enjoy it more and stay on the bike. I've known a lot of girls that just lost their love of racing because their level just got a bit too high and they weren't able to keep up.
ALJ: So what keeps you coming back to the races yourself?
The main thing for me always has been that I just really enjoy racing. I think I probably wouldn't be riding my bike if I didn't race. I love to do long rides and fun stuff, but I know this is the thing I work on, I do best and I really enjoy most, just getting into the peloton and getting the elbows out and that kind of stuff. It's just the reason why I love cycling.
That was also why Corona was really hard for me to not race for a year, that was really intense but I think it was also something for me to realise how much I enjoy this sport and how much I love to stay in it.
ALJ: Finally, what is your favourite part of riding for Le Col Wahoo?
The biggest thing for me is that they really understand why I ride the bike. For me, it's very personal on the level that is the first time in a team that I've ever felt at home. I can be myself, no one is judging me for being maybe a bit loud, or a bit over exaggerating or that kind of stuff. And they just enjoy having each other around, which is really nice and comfortable also because you're on the road with each other half the year, so you have to be able to have fun together. For me a really important thing.
Next to that they give a lot of opportunities to older riders. And also for me, like if I would be on a bigger team, maybe then I wouldn't get as many opportunities as I get at Le Col Wahoo. And also just the whole team around it, the staff and all the people that we work with are very invested in the whole programme that it has been for years. And it's been building and building every year, which is just really motivating to be a part of because everyone wants to improve and wants to get better to get the team to a higher level.
Majo will start her season in Omloop het Nieuwsblad on the 26th February.